EVA MARIE SAINT - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 07/18/1995 - HFSID 270361

EVA MARIE SAINT
Eva Marie Saint signs a typed letter asking for a donation from Phyllis Diller for a silent auction.
Typed Letter Signed: "Eva Marie Saint" as Co-Chair of the National Advisory Committee, 1 page, 8½x11. Bowling Green, Ohio, 1995 July 18. On letterhead of The Gish Film Theater & Gallery to comedienne and actress Phyllis Diller, Los Angeles, California. Begins: "Dear Phyllis". In full: "On October 13, Bowling Green State University will honor Dr. Ralph H. Wolfe, Gish Professor of Film Studies and curator of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Film Theater and Gallery on campus, for his many years of dedicated service to the development of the Gish Theater and the preservation of memorabilia surrounding the Gish sisters' careers. I am seeking your help as someone who has been involved with the establishment of the theater and the creation of the Gish Film Theater Endowment. As part of the tribute, there will be a silent auction to raise funds that will be used specifically to modify the gallery area so that it will appropriately showcase the thousands of dollars of memorabilia that will be sent to the theater from Lilliam Gish's estate. You can help by sending a small item - an autographed photo, a poster, something from a personal collection - anything that might draw interest on the part of those Gish and film supporters who will attend the event. Please join me in sending something for the silent auction as a token of your support for Dr. Wolfe and the Gish Film Theater and Gallery, which is truly a highlight of the Bowling Green campus and a remarkable tribute to the Gish sisters and their prominent acting careers. Your contribution to the silent auction can be sent to Marcia Latta, Director of Planned Giving, Mileti Alumni Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403. We would appreciate having your items by August 30. Thank you for your continued support. Sincerely". Roddy McDowall was the co-chair of the National Advisory Committee. Other members are listed at left margin, and include Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lauren Hutton, Alan Ladd, Jr., Maureen O'Sullivan, Charles Buddy Rogers, Lily Tomlin and Esther Williams. Red ink marks (unknown hand) at four places. Lightly creased. Stapled at upper left corner. Fine condition. With a form listing the items Diller contributed, 1 page, 8½x11. Diller contributed six items as "charitable contributions". The items, which included silver show gloves, an autographed promotional booklet, an autographed photograph, a pure silk "peau de sois" coat, an autographed copy of Magic of Believing and an autographed CD, were valued at $400. Slightly creased. Stapled at upper left corner. Fine condition. Actress EVA MARIE SAINT (born in 1924) entered the hectic world of live television with a coolness and maturity that belied her youthfulness. She also made an excellent impression in her first important stage appearance, 1953's A Trip to Bountiful. The euphoria attending her winning the Drama Critics Award was doubled by her win of the 1954 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her co-starring role with Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. The following year, the blonde, graceful actress appeared with Paul Newman in a TV musical version of Our Town. A string of mediocre films in the 1970s prompted Saint to seek out more satisfying roles on television before returning to the stage in 1983. In 1989, she won an Emmy Award for her performance in the dramatic special, People Like Us. Comedienne PHYLLIS DILLER (1917-2012), known for her outrageous appearance, zany outfits, distinctive laugh and a stand-up act that featured frequent references to her fictional husband, "Fang", and zingers about her sex appeal and numerous plastic surgeries, got her big break in March 1955 (at age 37), when she debuted at San Francisco's Purple Onion club. A subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar launched her national career, which got a big boost after Bob Hope saw Diller in a Washington, D.C. club. A favorite of the comedian, Diller would appear in three of Hope's films and 23 of his TV specials. Diller, who recorded her first comedy record album in 1959, took her groundbreaking "funny hausfrau" act to nightclubs and television variety shows and specials and she also appeared on the big screen. Her feature film credits include Splendor in the Grass (1961), The Fat Spy (1966), Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and The Silence of the Hams (1994), and she provided the voice of the Queen in A Bug's Life (1998). By 2000, the comedienne, who had trained as a concert pianist before her marriage (1939-1965) to Sherwood Anderson Diller, had appeared as a piano soloist with 100 symphony orchestras across the U.S. Despite retiring from nightclub/stage tours in May 2002 at the age of 84, Diller continued to make films (Motorcross Kids, 2004; Forget About It, 2005) and occasionally appear on TV programs, including two episodes of 7th Heaven (2002, 2003) and a guest shot on The Wayne Brady Show (2004). Two items.